Subject: Stabilizer bar question

I recently bought a 9N and am attempting to put stabilizer bars on the 3 point hitch. I measured 28 1/2" from the housing pin hole to the drawbar attachment point hole. I found a couple on eBay claiming to fit all 9N, 2N, and 8N tractors, but the bars are 33 or so inches center to center on the holes. I'm open to any comments/suggestions on stabilizer bars and how they fit on 9N's and why mine seems to be shorter. Thanks! Mark

Original sizes are not likely to be found in stores today. The 9/2/8N's were not category I, todays merchandise is category 1 (or II etc.). ASAE categories were not standardized till the early 1970's and even then were not based on the N's. Just measure up what you have and match it up as best you can.

Mark,The dimension is something like 31"-32" so wherever you are measuring from isn't right or you have aftermarket lift arms. Measure from center of ball socket on lift arms to center of hitch pin on diffy case where lift arm fastens to. EBAY isn't the best place to buy many parts from as sellers usually have no clue and sell in bulk for all makes and models. There are a handful of reliable Ford Tractor parts suppliers: Dennis Carpenter; Just8Ns; STEINERS; Grand Valley; et al. SEE LINK BELOW. The fender brackets with hitch pin is set as described below. The pins must face inward toward the lift arm pins face to face. Do this: take your hands and make 'pistols' with the thumbs pointing downward and th index fingers pointing towards each other. The new aftermarket kits have brackets with a series of position holes for the pins because they can fit many different tractor models. You will need to get longer 5/8-18 x 6-1/2" long hex bolts to fasten the brackets to the bottom of the fender bosses. You set the brackets loosely under the fenders and determine which holes match your 9N pins, then fasten the new hitch pins onto the brackets and tighten. Leave fender brackets in place loosely. The next step will be to set the brackets permanently. Take an implement like a back blade or plow or mower. Hitch it to your lift arms. Then, take one stabilizer bar and connect it to the fender bracket LINK PIN and fasten a Linch Pin on it. next take th loose end of the bar and slip it onto the implement LINK PIN. This may take some physical positioning to get it to fit -that's why you left the fender brackets loose. Once you have both ends secured with Linch Pins, do the other side the same way. Keep fender brackets loose until you test the lift action and are certain there i s no binding or bending of the bars. Once you get the stabilizer bars set, they are good to GO for ANY 3-point implement you attach and there is no need, not recommended to muck with them ever again. There were original brackets made and stabilizer bars. the brackets were designed with one Link Pin so there was no guessing as to where it should be. Once fastened on the fender, the Link Pins aligned perfectly. Then it was only a matter of setting the bars correctly as described above. We have a procedure for setting stabilizer bars in our HOW-TO's forum -click on the subject from the red menu bar at the top of the homepage on this site.

Got the bars to fit after a lot of head scratching. I have the 4 hole aftermarket brackets and after careful review of other 9N tractors it became apparent the brackets on the tractor I bought were installed backwards. I turned them around and everything fit as it should when I placed the pins across from where the arm shaft exits the housing. THANKS for the pictures and advice. I'm a little worried what else I'm going to find that's not quite right.

Thank you for the advice! I called my buddy and he inspected/measured my tractor and while I was at TSC I bought a couple stabilizer bars that'll work...just need to move the stabilizer bars back to a farther hole...I should have paid more attention. I really appreciate all the advice and the pictures were great. Thanks again!